Angie's adventures through the world of entrepreneurship, life after grad school, and Memphis.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Arrrgggg............

It's been one of those weeks... the kind you don't even really want to talk about because it's been so stressful you don't want to relive it all.

I'm in the middle of my move... finding out that the movers may very well possibly charge me based on a totally different scheme than they quoted me in the first place. It would be one thing if I went over somehow, but it's looking like they may just use a completely different method. I'm so annoyed...

Update: I spoke with the movers today. The paper they gave me yesterday was a rate sheet for in town moves. They (supposedly) weren't supposed to give it to me. They are charging me close to the first quote, but it will be determined by a little more than weight. So, instead of being three times the quote, it may be $50 more. Whew-- that was close!

And... I'm still looking for a place to live in Memphis. I've been searching for a condo downtown to rent. Today, it feels like it's going terribly. I've been watching the ads for around 6 weeks now, and I've found that this is the latest pattern for posting apartments downtown:

First post: Post a one line ad for an apartment with an extemely high price tag.

Second post: Post a one line ad + extremely high price tag + 2-4 photos and possibly a link to more photos

Third post: Post a long ad with lots of details about the apartment + extremely high price tag + 2-4 photos and possibly a link to more photos

Fourth post: (Around 1 month later) Same as third post, but with a reduced price. Generally, the reduction is $100-$150 / month. This is the post that finally gets people interested in the apartment.

This whole waiting process is grueling for me. I would like to have an address by tomorrow. The driver will be here at 9 AM to pick up my belongings. How I'm going to explain, "please just drive toward 38103" I don't know.

The other problem, besides having to wait so long because the downtown owners haven't figured out how over-priced their properties are-- Is that they're super unmotivated to move quickly.

One apartment I've been looking at has a realtor managing it. I have been asking her for around a month to check and see what storage options are available in the building. She can't seem to find out, but she still thinks I should move forward with signing a lease with her. Oh, and-- I filled out the application to rent last Thursday and asked her to please process it on Friday because I need an address now. She told me she was doing it right away, and then didn't return any of my messages or phone calls until yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. How does 6 days equal "right away"? She was also not honest about something... so unfortunately, she's quickly moving off my list.

I've considered just living in an apartment COMPLEX, but unfortunately there aren't many options for those downtown anymore. South Bluffs is the main option and they don't have a single 2-bedroom coming up until September 15th. That's just too late for me. Besides that, they only have two 2-bedroom places coming open then. One is right next to their super noisy pool and the other is directly across from (right next door to) my old apartment. It's just too weird for me to move back into almost the exact same apartment I lived in before. Not to mention, the complexes are over priced right now. Most aren't offering discounts and they raise the rent $100 to $200 per year. Who wants that?

If I would consider another part of town, I'd have way more alternatives. The issue is that I really like downtown. I like it so much that it's what's bringing me back-- and I'll be working downtown. So, it would make virtually no sense to move myself somewhere else just to have to commute to downtown.

And lets put it on the table, I'm not ready to buy. I think the prices downtown are over inflated right now. I'm going to wait at least a year, if not two.

So that leaves me with four options. Here they are:

"Apartment A"

Free gym (and by free, I mean included in the price that's as much as I pay in Santa Monica)

Free cable

Free internet

Cool young professional vibe

Storage included

No balcony

River view

Old kitchen

"Apartment B"

Free cable

Concrete flooring

Inexpensive

Cool artsy vibe

Many closets

Old kitchen

Old bathroom

No gym

No balcony

"Apartment C"

Balcony

Relatively large

Newer

Upscale I've got everything in my life together vibe

Concrete flooring

Nice kitchen

On the top floor

No gym, no cable

Expensive

"Apartment D" -- This is the one with the nutty realtor

Brand new

Free gym

Free cable

Hardwood flooring

My second home is in downtown vibe + the my landlord is shady or lazy and I can't tell which vibe

Nice kitchen

Nice bathroom

Balcony

Too small

No storage

Random other amenities that are cool, but make it hard to arrange furniture, including: book shelves, fireplace, alarm, kitchen island

Almost no place to put my office

All these places are within a few blocks of one another. They all have roofs, W/D, secured parking, and appliances.

The biggest challenge now is getting any of these people to return phone calls. None of the managers / owners are all that concerned with getting the freaking things rented out! Nobody is prompt and very few are flexible. There's definitely an expectation that I should BE IN MEMPHIS before I find a place. They want to meet, look it over, chat for a bit. Seriously though, that's not an option. Pick up the phone!